Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Batman, Comics, COndiment King, dc, dc comics, entertainment, lego, LEGO Batman Movie
After His Performance In The Lego Batman Movie, Will DC Give Condiment King A Higher Profile In The Comics?
There now follow slight spoilers for The Lego Movie. Permission for this post has been granted by Warner Bros representatives, the full Lego Batman movie review is embargoed until Saturday.
Because I wanted to talk about Condiment King.
The Lego Batman Movie has so many of Batman's rogue gallery, and many get their moment to shine. Including Condiment King, initially introduced in a flurry of bad guys but then spotlighted a number of times.
After seeing the movie at the weekend, most people I spoke to there seemed to think that Condiment King was a joke, created for the movie. Well, he may be a joke but a) he doesn't have to be and b) he wasn't invented for the movie. Just like so much of the film, it is drawn from Batman's rich and varied past.
He was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for the Batman: The Animated Series in the episode 'Make Em Laugh', voiced by Stuart Pankin, as a pastiche character playing on the image of the sixties TV show.
He was also used as a throwaway character in Batgirl: Year One and Birds of Prey #37, and while Robin takes him seriously in Robin #171, no one else does.
He was killed in Final Crisis Aftermath: Run by the Human Flame, beaten to death by his own ketchup and mustard guns.
But that was several continuities ago. He was also in the Batman Lego games.
He recently returned for a panel in Tom King and Mikel Janin's Batman #14, for one panel.
But after this performance, the world will be crying out for more than just a jokey aside…
Has The Condiment King's time finally come?